Page 140 of Not A Whisper

Grant’s grip on my waist tightens as we’re yanked upward. I lean forward and bury my face into the crook of his neck. He flinches, but then he pulls me closer. My eyelids droop. Relief that he’s here,they’rehere, has tears welling up. I squeeze my eyes shut. I can cry later. With each heave, we’re lifted higher out of the well.

“We’ll get you warmed up,” he mutters into my hair. “We got you, dollface.Igot you. Just hang on…please.” His voice cracks. “Youhaveto be ok. I need you, Briella.”

My heart flutters. If I could respond, I would tell him I needed him too. My lips, however, seem to be frozen shut now.

Finally, we make it to the top.

Jason’s there immediately. He grabs me under the shoulders and pulls me the rest of the way out of the well. I catch sight of Grant grabbing the edge of the well and pulling himself out. There’s a rope around his waist—that must be how theothers managed to pull us both up. It’s then that I realize he’s wearing just his undershirt and boxers, which are now drenched. No wonder he felt so warm.

Jason shifts my weight, picking me up so that he can carry me in his arms. “You’re safe, dollie. You’re safe in my arms, alright? Shit, why aren’t you shivering…”

“Jay—” Grant calls.

Jason doesn’t stop, he just yells over his shoulder, “Get your clothes back on and meet us at the car!”

I press my face into Jason’s chest, seeking the warmth radiating from him as he carries me. Jason pulls me closer into his body. Through hooded eyelids, I stare up at him. My mind wanders away from my current state of wet and freezing to admire the handsome man carrying me to safety. How is it that someone can be so damn attractive? It really isn’t fair. Still dressed in his tux, with only his tie missing and a few of the buttons of his shirt undone, he looks amazing.

It’s not long before Jason lays me down in the backseat of a warm yet unfamiliar sedan.

“God, you’re blue, dollie.” He climbs in with me, shutting the door behind him to keep the warmth confined within the vehicle. Carefully, he proceeds to turn me onto my side. “I need to get you warm as quickly as possible so I’m going to get this dress off you and put some dry clothes on.”

I want to help him but there’s no feeling in my limbs. Jason doesn’t need assistance though. He makes quick work of stripping the dress off me. My head swims as he jostles me around. Vertigo strikes, leaving me feeling off-kilter—the world spinning around me too fast for me to focus on anything. My eyes flutter shut in an attempt to stop the spinning.

“Come on, Bri, let’s sit you up.” Jason’s words are tense as he helps me up. My jaw clenches as I work my eyes back open. The muscles in my back scream as they cramp up in protest. Imust’ve made a sound because Jason says, “You’re ok now, I got you. You’ll feel better when you’re warmer.”

Jason shrugs off his jacket and his button-up shirt, leaving him in just his white undershirt, then helps me into each.

“I saw sweats in the trunk, hold on.” He leaves, shutting the door behind him. Slouching back in the seat, I savor the way the jacket smells like Jason. The familiarity of the conditioner we share, a hint of Old Spice, and just a deep masculine hint ofJason.

Huddled within his clothes, I start to thaw. As I do, my shivering starts back up. The hard vibrations seem to shake off the lethargy weighing down my thoughts. I take in the car, noting the candy wrappers on the ground, a Band-Aid, a small… doll?

Who does this vehicle belong to?

Jason opens the door and slides back in. He scoots in beside me and helps me into a pair of sweatpants that aremuchtoo large for me. I don’t even think they belong to any of the guys.

“T-t-t-t-t-thank-k-k?—”

“Don’t—” Jason cuts me off sharply “—thank me, dollie.”

He ties the string around my waist to keep the pants up. Jason doesn’t look at me as he pulls his shoes off and then his socks. Though his head is down as he slides his socks onto my feet, I can see the heavy scowl he wears and how it wrinkles his forehead.

“I don't like the look of your toes, Bri. We need to get you to a?—”

“He’s coming! Garry is coming!”

That’s not Trip or Grant’s voice. I flinch in surprise at the deep baritone that comes through the window. Jason’s body stiffens as he turns to look over his shoulder. He reaches over and opens the door just a crack. Over his shoulder, I watch as Lance hurries toward us. I gasp and my heartbeatfalters in alarm. What is he doing here? My fingers unconsciously reach for Jason. They find his shirt and bunch it.

“If you take another step toward us, I’ll fucking break your neck,” Jason promises in a very un-Jason-like snarl.

Lance stops abruptly, his brows twisting upward. “I just wanted to let you know. He left right after us when he got my voicemail. He called saying he’s five minutes out. He sounded pissed.”

I shake my head stiffly. What is Lance up to? Why is Garry coming? I lean my forehead against Jason’s shoulder and try to warn him, “H-h-h-h-h-e-e-e-e’s h-h-h-help-p-ping?—”

“Yeah, dollie, we got that,” Jason replies. “Lance here gave us the address to this place and the keys to his car so we could follow. It’s the only reason his heart is still beating.”

I would like to believe that Jason is being dramatic, but given that they buried a man notquitedead for me, I know there’s some truth to his words. Lance seems to be taking the threats seriously because he holds utterly still.

“I’m sorry, Bri. I never wanted any of this…” Lance grimaces. With a hard shake of his head he pushes on. “I was just supposed to be a spy, and I didn’t even want to do that. Garry forced me to meet you and to make it look like an accident. At first Garry wanted me to, ah, seduce you, but you made it quite clear from the get go you were, um, not interested, remember?” He lets out a nervous chuckle that dies down quickly.

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